


The Frog Song

by ixieko



Series: FFVII Folk Tales [22]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Folklore, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 10:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8051986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ixieko/pseuds/ixieko





	The Frog Song

Once upon a time, a man lived with his wife in a village near a forest. They had two children: May the oldest daughter and Ivan the youngest son. Once the parents were going to go to the fair in the nearest town, so they called the children and told them: "We're going to the fair and will be back by tomorrow evening. You, May, milk the cow and water the plants, and you, Ivan, feed the chicken and sweep the floors. And don't you go out of the village!"

The next morning May milked the cow and watered the plants, and Ivan fed the chicken and swept the floors, and then they had nothing else to do and got bored. The day was warm, and the sky was clear, and May said, "Let's go to the forest, pick berries and mushrooms."

"But parents told us to stay home!" Argued Ivan, but May said, "They won't even know, we will be home long before their return."

And so they took a large basket for mushrooms and a small basket for berries and went into the forest.

Long or short, Ivan got thirsty, so he ran to a nearby spring and asked May, "Can I drink water from this spring?"

"No," May answered, "this spring is cursed; if you drink from it, you'll turn into a midget. Chew some sour grass instead."

Ivan listened and did not drink.

Deeper and deeper into the forest they went, until they came to a meadow with a small pond in the middle. The grass there was full of strawberries, and May began to pick them.

The sun was climbing higher in the sky, the day was becoming hotter. Ivan became thirsty again.

"May, can I drink from this pond?" he asked.

His sister said, "No, this pond is cursed. You touch its water, you'll turn into a stone. Eat some strawberries instead."

Ivan listened and did not touch the water.

Even farther into the forest they went until they came to a big swamp. The air there was damp and heavy, and Ivan got thirsty again.

"May, can I drink from this swamp?" he asked.

"No," the sister said, "don't even come near it! Toads live there; if they sing their song to you, you'll become a toad!"

Ivan listened and did not come near the water.

While May was picking mushrooms, Ivan was playing in the grass, trying to catch grasshoppers and bugs and dragonflies. It was very hot and he wanted to drink, so he asked, "I'm very thirsty, May, let's go home!"

But his sister said, "The basket isn't full yet. Wait a little more."

He waited, and waited, and then waited a little more, but May was still picking mushrooms, and the day was getting hotter and hotter. Finally, he decided to sneak to the swamp quietly, so that the toads wouldn't notice him, and drink some water.

But when he was nearly there, May saw him and screamed for him to not come any closer to the swamp. She ran to Ivan and pulled him by hand, away from the water, - just in time, because the toads noticed and were already hopping towards the children. Brother and sister started to run, but May tripped over a root and fell, and toads began to sing, and she, too, turned into a toad and hopped into the swamp with them.

Crying, Ivan called out to his sister, but she didn't answer. And so he took the baskets and went back through the forest to the village.

Near the edge of the forest, on the road, Ivan met a young mercenary, - tall and good-looking, in leather armor, her black hair braided with a pink ribbon in it.

"Why are you crying, little boy?" the mercenary asked, and he told her how May was turned into a toad.

"Please, help me," he pleaded, "toad's curse is cured with a maiden's kiss! Please, kiss my sister!"

"Well," the mercenary said, "let's go find her."

And so they went back to the swamp, but not before the mercenary gave Ivan a white cape enchanted to protect the wearer from toad's curse.

But when they arrived at the swamp, there were no toads at all. Ivan began to weep again, but the mercenary said, "I know where they all went. There's an old witch who lives in the middle of the swamp; the toads are her servants."

And she led the boy around the swamp until they found a narrow path through it. They went on it, and went, and went, until finally came to the witch's hut, - old, made of logs, with a thatch roof, and no windows or doors.

"Hey, hut, old hut," the mercenary said, "turn the old way, as your maker said: front to the guests, back to the thicket!"

And before their eyes, the old hut creaked, crackled, grumbled, lifted itself from the swamp on four bird's legs, turned around and sat down again, its back to the forest, front door to the guests.

Ivan and the mercenary entered the hut. The old witch saw them and smiled widely with her toothless mouth, "Ah, welcome, dear guests, how may I help you?"

"Your toads cursed this boy's sister," the mercenary said. "Lift the curse and let the girl go, and I'll let you live."

"Ah, ah, ah," the old witch said, shaking her head, "how rude are young people these days." With that, she waved her hand, and said a magic word, and both guests froze in place, paralyzed.

"This is better," she said, looking them over. "The boy is too small and skinny, but you, girl, is just what I needed to feed my hut full. You see, it needs meat now and then, and where can I get it, if not from careless strangers? But I'm bored, so let's play a game."

The witch then turned to the window and called, "Toads, toads, come here, ten old and the one that's newest!"

The toads hopped inside through the window and sat in line on the wooden bench near the oven.

"Now, see, one of these toads is the boy's sister; if you choose right, you can kiss her, and she can go home with the boy. If you choose wrong, I'll put all three of you into the oven. How do you like this?"

"I like it fine," the mercenary said, "but how about this: you go into the oven, and all people you turned into frogs go home?"

With that, she stopped pretending to be paralyzed (for her enchanted pink ribbon protected her from all curses), rushed forward, took the old witch by the scruff of her neck, opened the oven's door, pushed her inside and replaced the door again. From inside the oven, the witch screamed once, then there were sounds of chewing and a growl, and nothing more.

The mercenary then brought all toads outside and asked them so sing to each other; and they all turned into people again, except for the last one who the mercenary kissed, and it turned back into Ivan's sister, May. Then they all went to the village, and the mercenary walked May and Ivan to their house where their parents were already home, worried sick about the missing children. They thanked the mercenary and asked her to stay, so she stayed for a few days, and then she wanted to leave, but May asked her to stay longer, so she stayed for a few more weeks, and then for a few more months, and in the end never really left. She was still taking jobs as a mercenary, and, soon or late, May also joined her.

The old witch's hut stayed in the swamp, preying on everyone who dared come too close, but when everyone learned about it and stopped going there, it left and went to other places, with more prey to catch. Some say it was last seen near Banora, and others that it's across the river, and some claim it went to Corel... But everyone agree that if you ever see a weird old log hut where no hut was before, it's better to just leave it alone.


End file.
